1 Isaiah’s Call and Mission In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, and the hem of his robe filled the temple.2 Seraphim were standing above him; they each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew.3 And one called to another: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Armies; his glory fills the whole earth.4 The foundations of the doorways shook at the sound of their voices, and the temple was filled with smoke.5 Then I said: Woe is me for I am ruined Or I must be silent because I am a man of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips, and because my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Armies.6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken from the altar with tongs.7 He touched my mouth with it and said: Now that this has touched your lips, your iniquity is removed and your sin is atoned for.8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord asking: Who should I send? Who will go for us? I said: Here I am. Send me.9 And he replied: Go! Say to these people: Keep listening, but do not understand; keep looking, but do not perceive.10 Make the minds Lit heart of these people dull; deafen their ears and blind their eyes; otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears, understand with their minds, turn back, and be healed.11 Then I said, “Until when, Lord? ” And he replied: Until cities lie in ruins without inhabitants, houses are without people, the land is ruined and desolate,12 and the Lord drives the people far away, leaving great emptiness in the land.13 Though a tenth will remain in the land, it will be burned again. Like the terebinth or the oak that leaves a stump when felled, the holy seed is the stump.